Erika Rief Wins Exemplar of Excellence Award from Hillel

Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life announced that Emory University student leader Erika Rief was among the winners of its 2011 Philip H. and Suzi Rudd Cohen Student Exemplar of Excellence Awards at the recent Jewish Federations of North America General Assembly in Denver.

The Student Exemplar of Excellence Award is annually awarded to five students who have displayed exemplary leadership on their respective campuses by inspiring others to act and lead, building meaningful relationships, fostering innovation and creativity, and modeling and inspiring Jewish growth. Selected from among numerous nominees, Rief is joined by fellow winners Will Eastman of Rutgers University, Benjamin Elkind of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Toby Ring of the State University of New York at Geneseo, and Joshua Yudkin of Washington University in St. Louis. Each winner and their respective Hillel receive a prize of $150 and a plaque in recognition of their outstanding leadership efforts.

“Erika has set an example of leadership that every student can follow,” says Hillel President and CEO Wayne L. Firestone. “Emory University and the entire Atlanta-area Jewish community can take pride in her accomplishments.”

“We are tremendously proud of Erika Rief and grateful that she is being recognized for her leadership,” said Michael Rabkin, Director of Hillel at Emory. “Her genuine passion, commitment to Jewish life, and outstanding accomplishments make Erika a role model to all emerging student leaders at Emory.”

"Even before my arrival at Emory, it was the Hillel leadership who reached out to me and made me feel that Hillel would be a place I could call home for the four years,” said Rief. “I wanted to be that person who the freshmen could look to for guidance while adjusting to Jewish life at Emory. I have enjoyed every minute of my time in Hillel leadership and am very fortunate and humbled to have received such a prestigious award."

Erika Rief is a junior in the Goizueta Business School at Emory University and is from Baltimore, Maryland.